A Juan-derful World?
Rivera was in right field for the Bombers today against Baltimore's Travis Driskill, and doubled in his second major league at-bat. He inherits the #9 spot in the order from fellow rookie Nick Johnson, who will flip between the #8 spot between Rondell White and Rivera and the #2 spot between Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter. Rivera's defense is excellent, sometimes spectacular, and he shows the same kinds of tools the young Bernie Williams flashed in 1991; just remember, at the time, 23-year-old Bernie finished that season .238/3/36 in 85 games.

Spencer for Hire, Vander Wal Comes Down
Of course, this move is bad news for owners of Shane Spencer (.260/2/14) and John Vander Wal (.271/2/9), who immediately become essentially worthless in MLB-universe leagues. However, it's worth hanging on to both in AL-only leagues as they are an extended Rivera slump or [ahem] a Rondell White injury away from returning to the lineup on a more regular basis. The feeling here is that 20 years from now, Spencer is going to be seen as this generation's Joe Pepitone -- always accompanied by the haunting question, "Why didn't he do more with all that promise?"

Sorry, Fish Fans
The immediate reaction -- let's call it "hopeful speculation" -- by fantasy GMs everywhere is that the Yankees are more or less showcasing Rivera to better include him in a deal for Cliff Floyd or Brian Giles. This perpetuates the notion that the Yankees have re-built their dynasty solely through free agency and trading for big contracts. In fact, calling up Rivera -- though it has happened a year ahead of schedule -- fits right in with the more recent homegrown group of pinstripers headlined by Jeter, Williams, Soriano, Spencer, Johnson, Andy Pettitte, Ramiro Mendoza and Mariano Rivera.

Probable Starters June 5: Wells vs. BAL (Driskill) June 6: Mussina vs. BAL (Lopez) June 7: Lilly vs. SF (L. Hernandez) June 8: Clemens vs. SF (Ortiz) June 9: Thurman/Hitchcock/Hernandez/TBD

Elliptical Information ...
To make room for Rivera, the Yankees released veteran OF Gerald Williams, who was 0-for-17 ... If that news matters to your fantasy team, start planning for a way to draft Kurt Warner in your football league ... The Yankees moved from having two players named Williams to having two named Rivera (you can't pay enough for that kind of quality information, now can you?) ... While Mariano Rivera and Ruben Rivera are first cousins, the Hall of Fame closer is no blood relation to his new teammate ... Rivera runs well but had just two steals in three attempts for Columbus ... His BB/K rate with the Clippers was a less-than stellar 8/27 ...